I'm on a mission to get Flock cameras out of Bastrop, TX! Join me!
The short version: A Bastrop, TX resident, John Bush, is organizing to pressure city council into pulling Flock ALPR cameras, and local pushback like his matters.
Our Take
John Bush is doing exactly what we think every town with Flock cameras needs: a resident who stops scrolling past the issue and starts showing up to council meetings instead. Getting these systems installed rarely takes a public vote, but getting them removed almost always requires one person deciding to make noise until the people with budget authority have to answer for it. Bastrop is a small city, which means a handful of organized residents can actually move the needle in a way that's much harder in a major metro with layers of bureaucracy.
The broader fight here isn't just about one Texas city's contract with Flock Safety. It's about whether local governments get to quietly build out a nationwide vehicle-tracking network, one small ALPR deal at a time, without residents ever being asked if they want their daily movements logged and stored. Bush breaking down the city council process is useful precisely because it demystifies something that feels abstract — most people don't realize these cameras exist until they look for them, or until a leaked database or audit shows how many agencies are pulling their plate data.
If you want to see whether Bastrop or your own town already has cameras logged, check our map, and if you're inspired by what Bush is doing, our take-action page has the basics on how to approach a council, request records, and push back effectively.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of John Bush, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.